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Earth China

How the Ozone Layer Was 'Rescued' From a Spike in CFC (bbc.com) 85

Posted by EditorDavid from the chlorofluorocarbons dept.
Thelasko shared this report from the BBC: A steady decline in the levels of ozone-harming CFC chemicals in the atmosphere has resumed, scientists say. This follows a recent, dangerous pause in that downward trajectory, which could have slowed the healing of Earth's protective ozone layer.

Atmospheric measurements published in 2018 pointed to illegal CFC production that was occurring in Eastern China. Stopping that production appears to have set the ozone layer's healing process back on track... The conclusions of a chemistry-based detective story, based on work carried out over several years by an international team of researchers, are published in two papers in the journal Nature... Further detective work in China by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) — and by environmental journalists — found that the chemical was being used in the majority of polyurethane insulation foam that was being produced by firms in the region.

The scientists stressed that the scale of this illegal production may never be revealed in full. But this combination — of chemistry, investigative journalism and enforcement of the Montreal Protocol, the researchers say, has avoided significant delays to the healing of the ozone layer.
Dr. Luke Western, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Bristol, tells the BBC that now "later this century we should see recovery of the ozone layer back to levels that we saw in 1980."
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How the Ozone Layer Was 'Rescued' From a Spike in CFC More

How the Ozone Layer Was 'Rescued' From a Spike in CFC

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  • Time to hold dictatorships like China to account. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by greytree ( 7124971 ) on Sunday February 14, 2021 @10:58AM (#61062606)

    China deny their people the vote, imprison people for speaking out and are polluting our planet to death.
    And yet we trade with them, cheer them when they get to Mars, sell them all the advanced tech they want.

    Time to fix the world and stop ALL trade with dictatorships.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by BAReFO0t ( 6240524 )

      What about something less primitive, like an illusionary democracy then? You know: When the de-facto dictators repeat the lies often enough for the people to actually believe it, and do it by themselves, so "no dictatorship is needed", as they enslave themselves and believe they actually want that and it's their own fault nothing ever gets better. Which works so well because everyone actually believes *he* cannot be manipulated and is an independent mind with a free will.

      Will we stop trade with those too...

      • Weird. You and I usually disagree, but you make sense today...

    • Time to hold dictatorships like China to account.

      ...because they broke the "law" imposed on them by outsiders?

      Time for you to stop complaining about dictatorships not obeying other dictatorships.

      • They had a signed treaty to no longer manufacture or use CFCs. They broke it.
        Likewise, they continue to claim that they will stop increasing CO2, and they keep adding more and more coal plants, with increased coal consumption and increased CO2 emissions. However, the only treaty on that, is Kyoto/paris, which are major jokes.

    • Re:Time to hold dictatorships like China to accoun (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tflf ( 4410717 ) on Sunday February 14, 2021 @12:19PM (#61062834)

      China deny their people the vote, imprison people for speaking out and are polluting our planet to death.
      And yet we trade with them, cheer them when they get to Mars, sell them all the advanced tech they want.

      Time to fix the world and stop ALL trade with dictatorships.

      Any proof that would be more successful than raising the standard of living in China through trade?
      China is changing, ableit very slowly, and the rise of a successful middle class is a large part of that change. China today, although far from ideal, is a huge shift from the China of the 1960's and 1970's, and much of that shift has been positive. Some of us are old enough to remember the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution", a decades-long campaign of terror and oppression that killed millions of Chinese, and enslaved most of the rest. Lack of trade, in part, enabled that horror show.
      There is still a long,long way to go, but, there is measureable progress, and much of that progress is thanks to increased trade. The reality is there are no easy answers, and any "solution" will be painful, slow and rarely linear.
      Absent proof stopping ALL trade will likely yield quicker, measureable and more favourable improvements (history suggests otherwise), continuing trade, as painful as it is,remains the better option.

      • That China is changing is an understatement. And the high degree of change leads to instability and unpredictability.

        I live pretty much the same way my father did. Engineering 9 to 5 job, although his car did not have Bluetooth, his phone was wired. But basically the same.

        In my father's day, the Chinese were under Mao! They literally starved to death under the Great Leap Forward, and during the Cultural Revolution anyone with brains was purged. Then Mao finally died, Deng Xioping somehow climbed to the

    • Re:Time to hold dictatorships like China to accoun (Score:4, Insightful)

      by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) on Sunday February 14, 2021 @12:30PM (#61062886) Journal
      What else can you expect from a body of legislators who acquit the man who sent a mob to kill them?

  • Wait, *how* was it rescued? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BAReFO0t ( 6240524 ) on Sunday February 14, 2021 @11:30AM (#61062694)

    TFS doesn't say anything about how those factories were stopped. Nor does it hint at the article containing that info.

    • Re:Wait, *how* was it rescued? (Score:5, Informative)

      by crunchygranola ( 1954152 ) on Sunday February 14, 2021 @01:09PM (#61063038)

      The absence of information is the clue - we simply don't know. Some industry, or industries, in China was violating the Montreal Protocol, using a banned CFC blowing agent to further its profits. This was detected and traced back to China and the world made a stink for the Government of China. So the GOC found out the culprits and made them cut it out. What pressures or penalties were applied may never be known. But that is OK. We just needed it stopped.

    • TFS doesn't say anything about how those factories were stopped. Nor does it hint at the article containing that info.

      The EIA article has that info.

      In response to the findings of the Nature paper, EIA researchers identified several potential sellers of CFC-11, some of which had advertised online through internet retailers including Alibaba.com.

      In June 2018, EIA sources contacted 25 white agent and/or foam manufacturing factories based on internet searches. Of a total of 21 companies that responded, 18 companies from 10 different provinces confirmed illegal use of CFC-11 in the production of foams used for insulation in b

      • Thanks. This is pecisely what I was looking for.
        I really don't see the need to come to Slashdot, if I have to scan news articles for useful information anyway.
        Slashdot should give me the redux edition. The essence. So I can learn more in less time, and got time to spare for other things.

    • They got after the CHinese government pointing out that CHina agreed to stop these plants back in the 90s. CHina's government fought that a bit, but they finally agreed to shut it all down. So, it is gone for the moment. Keep in mind that this was RESTARTED because CFCs make for cheap polyurethane insulation and they can then use locally and dump on global markets.
  • Soon, this will also be done with spike CO2 and Methane emissions.
  • Play it safe and call this a side effect of COVID-19, and thus we may never know the source.

  • Mechanics in the US are required to buy expensive CFC capture equipment to service auto A/C units but just over the border in Mexico, the let the stuff vent directly to the atmosphere. Oh, and you can still buy R-22 there.

    • Unfortunately you can't fix the behavior or others. All you can do is be responsible and do things the right way.
      • More accurately, you start by being responsible and do the right things, then go on helping to fix the behavior of others. This is what a lot of people did on a very large time scale, starting with the scientist reports that led to the Montreal Protocol, up to the people that put an end to this incident.

        If we can pull the same trick on climate change we may still have a chance, but it is late.
      • Actually, we can and SHOULD HAVE.
        Fact is, when trump redid NAFTA, we really should have pushed for labor and environmental laws to be upgraded by all 3 nations. In particular, we should have brought America and Mexico up to at least Canada's level.
    • A small r134a recapture system, suitable for a small auto shop, starts at about 1000 dollars. While thats greater than zero, its fairly minor as far as capital expenses go. Its not cost that stops places like that from recapturing. Mexico isnt exactly poor - its a middle income country where 1000 bucks would be affordable by a legit business. Heck the gear might even be cheaper south of the border (I checked US pricing). Must be another reason why they dont bother.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

        One minor issue: R134a does not deplete the ozone. It does have a high global warming potential (1400x that of CO2), but nobody's dumping tons of it into the atmosphere.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jbengt ( 874751 )
        R134a does not contain the chlorine that detroys the ozone.
        Basically all* refrigerants are required to be captured rather than vented, not that every refrigerant tech does that.

        * Technically subtances as common as water and air can be used as refrigerants, but I'm obviously not talking about them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cyberax ( 705495 )
      R-22 is no longer produced even in Mexico. They might have old stocks of it, though.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jbengt ( 874751 )
        You can still use recycled R-22 for repairs and maintenance of old systems, even in the USA.
  • The real problem today is to get them to QUIT growing their CO2 emissions, along with getting them to STOP building new coal plants inside CHina AND in undeveloped nations.

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